


You Always Have Your Way

by Lonov



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Canon Gay Relationship, Fluff, Love, Lovers, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Opposites Attract, Sex, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-25
Updated: 2013-04-25
Packaged: 2017-12-09 12:27:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/774181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lonov/pseuds/Lonov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loras defies authority, Renly adheres to every rule, Loras is always angry and Renly is downright jovial—but it's a system that works for the both of them, and neither would give it up for the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Always Have Your Way

 

Renly doesn't know if he'll ever completely understand Loras. Sometimes Loras will say something— _I’m not getting out of bed yet; it's too early in the morning, I doubt Robert is even past his hangover yet—_ and Renly will think he's very cute, all rough around the edges. He'll remind Renly of himself a few years past, of the things he'd wanted to say but had never been able to because, unlike Loras, anyone he could have said it to would have branded him treasonous. These are times when Renly laughs, and takes Loras in his arms, and kisses him all over even though it is very early and the morning and they have somewhere to be.

 

But sometimes Loras will say things like, _I don't_ want _to carry your things. I don't care if you're my lord. I thought I meant more to you than this,_ and Renly will be reminded that Loras is the most petulant person he has ever met. He not a child, not really, but the way he acts sometimes has Renly wondering if half his time is spent placating his lover, or apologetically explaining his outbursts to other people.

 

Someone would say, _that knight of yours has a fiery tongue; I'd show him who's boss, if I were you,_ and Renly would assure the man that Loras isn't _his_ knight, and that his attitude is a product of spoiling as a child, and that Loras is very, very sorry, but does not know how to express his guilt.

 

Then when they are alone in Renly's room Renly will fuck Loras hard and fast, and in his mind pretend he _is_ showing Loras who is boss.

 

***

 

Loras doesn't know if he'll ever completely understand Renly. He's commanding and charming, yet he only seems to use these traits when he's trying to cover up something Loras has done wrong. Not that Loras does a lot wrong, per se, but, well—he doesn't see why it's so important to reel in his tongue when someone near them does something stupid. He doesn't see why he shouldn't let the old man pursuing him know that no one, let alone Loras himself, is going to marry his daughter, because she's as ugly as a troll,or tell the woman at the bakery that her bread yes day tasted like it had crow shit in it, or call Brienne of Tarth a man, because, face it, she practically was one. Despite Renly's immense power, he only wields it when he’s apologizing to the man, or the bakery, of damn Brienne of Tarth, and it's infuriating.

 

Loras has figured out why it angers him so when Renly tries to explain away his rude behavior. Renly is a man grown, and he knows it; Loras is four years his junior and, in his mind if not by law, a child. He is sixteen, but he feels younger than that, and it seems like too much of the time is spent by Renly apologizing for Loras, saying _he's a bit of a child, he didn’t mean it,_ and smiling kindly at whomever Loras has insulted. He charms people easily, and Loras would probably enjoy watching it if his pride and dignity weren’t in the dirt every time Lord Renly soothed the victims of Loras's tongue, condescending over him.

 

Someone would say, _you're lucky to have a lord who allows you the liberty of your rudeness,_ and Loras would assure the man that yes, he knows he's lucky, then ask who allowed the man the liberty of leaving his house that morning in rattier clothes than a peasant.

 

Then, when they are alone later with no chance of anyone coming by or interrupting them, Renly will fuck Loras so hard and fast that he screams, and when it's over and dried come is cooling on their bodies, Loras will think he is very lucky indeed. Renly’s condescending tone will have long faded away.

 

***

 

Loras defies authority. Catelyn Stark will come all the way from the North to request Renly's allegiance with her son, and Loras will tell her Robb Stark should have come himself. He doesn’t care that he’s only a knight while Catelyn is mother to the King in the North—he says what he pleases when he pleases with no regard for custom or rules. He'll get explicit orders from a lord or an acclaimed knight to do something, and if he does it at all it will be at the last possible moment. He doesn't seem to care about titles or names—for anyone, of course, except himself.

 

Renly gave him an order once, just to see what would happen. It was after Loras was his squire, and Renly had told him to clean his quarters. He'd gone out riding for the hours after his command, and when he got to his bedchamber later he hadn't expected much—certainly not a spotless floor, a neat bed, and an organized desk, which is what he got. Even the ink stains that had been on the mahogany of his desk, which Renly had given up on getting out months ago, were gone.

 

It seemed Loras cared about the authority of two people. Renly had stood in the center of his bedchamber, had said _you've made my bed_ , shocked. Loras had smirked at him and took his hands and said, _you asked me to._

 

Renly had been so thrilled he had almost thought twice about ruining the bed by throwing Loras on top of it and ravishing him.

 

***

Renly adheres to every rule. At first Loras thought it was a facade—of course the king's brother would want the kingdom to think he was law-abiding—and that, when no one was looking, Renly would turn to Loras with a smirk on his face and tell him to watch as Renly stole from Little Finger or pawned an important figurine from the castle at King's Landing or _something,_ anything to assure Loras that Renly wasn't a goody two-shoes who got off on abiding regulations.

 

Instead, when Loras snaps at Catelyn Stark, Renly scolds him and treats the Widow of the North as if _she’s_ the one who makes the rules at Storm’s End, addressing her by her proper title and even bowing. Instead Renly is very kind to everyone he meets and takes special care to read over past histories of lords to be sure that what he is doing is both precedented and allowed. Renly spends too much time studying past lords, past royalty, learning all the rules and seemingly fascinated by them. He respects every title, every name, and could list the members of every noble family back twelve winters.

 

If it weren’t for those times when Renly cared about nothing but the two of them together, rules be damned, Loras wasn't sure he'd spend much time liking Renly. If it weren't for the times Renly fucked him slowly in the hallways, out in the open for anyone who passed by to see—risky and stupid and hot as fuck—and whispered " _let them watch"_ when Loras breathily voiced his concern, Loras would be very upset about how well Renly stuck to the rules. As it was, he accepted seeing the rule-loving Renly all day until the wild one broke free at night.

 

***

 

It takes a simple "get much sleep last night?" from a well-meaning Renly, and suddenly Loras is fuming. Everything, it seems, is an insult, as though the entirety of the world is out to get Loras. If Renly steps some line only Loras understands, if Renly even toes at it, Loras explodes. And when he explodes, he shatters the ears and hearts of everyone in the room.

 

" _What did you say to me?"_

 

_"That'd better be a joke."_

 

_"You're an arsehole."_

_“Get out of my face.”_

 

Just like he is on the jousting field, in Renly's presence Loras is aware of everything; he is constantly on edge. If Renly's exhausted after a Small Council meaning and doesn't feel like having sex, Loras will pout and withhold sex for the next week. If Renly gets home from a tournament absolutely randy, Loras is immediately suspicious of who he was looking at—and he isn't usually keen on believing Renly when he says, " _I was staring at you the whole time, you goddamn tetchy thing."_

 

It's worse when it comes from other people—when the Hound makes a snide comment about Loras's sexual preferences, Loras almost challenged him to a duel then and there, despite the fact that his talent with a lance doesn’t near the skill of the older man. When Renly sensibly points this out as a reason for Loras to back down, he finds all of Loras's fiery anger directed at himself.

 

" _I didn't say you were bad with a lance—"_

 

_"No, you just think the Hound is better—"_

 

_"Loras, of course he's better, he's twice your age and he's mad as a dog."_

 

_"It's good to know you have such faith in me."_

 

_"Loras, I would trust you with my life."_

 

After this Loras usually storms off into his bedchamber, or to pace in the hallway, and Renly sighs and gets ready for bed. The times after they argue about things like this are the most powerful things Renly knows. Some minutes later when he is almost asleep a weight sinks down beside him in bed and a soft apology is exhaled at his shoulder. Every time there is a different confession; every time it fills Renly's eyes with tears.

 

" _I would be dead if you didn't talk me out of every rash decision. I need you around so much more than I care to admit. You're so beautiful. I'm so sorry."_

 

In these moments, Loras will grasp his shoulder as hard as he can, and Renly will feel quite like a lifeboat. And quite as though he is the most loved man in the whole of Westeros.

 

***

All it takes is "I spoke with the king" and suddenly Renly is jovial as can be. Everything, it seems, is a joke, and that makes it very hard to have a conversation. Renly is always intent on laughing at serious issues, and Loras tries very hard to understand why.

 

When Little Finger says, _"we'll hello, boys, how was your night together?"_ when Robert says " _you must be a freak to never hire whores,"_ when Cersei watches him with cat-eyes from across the room or Joffrey makes a comment like _"we ought to start torturing the beggars on the streets, that will teach them to be happy with what they've got,"_ Renly laughs.

 

Sometimes, when the moment is particularly sour, Renly will contribute, along with his laugh, a round of applause. He finds terrible situations extremely hilarious.

 

Except he doesn't, Loras realizes one night after he is lovingly fucked into the scratchy sheets on his bed. It's self-defense. When Renly doesn't like something, when it makes him nervous or uncomfortable, he laughs. Because, he reasons, never has Renly laughed in their bed; never has he laughed at Loras when Loras has confessed something that makes him feel stupid, ridiculous, or helpless.

 

When Loras says, _"I need you around more than I care to admit,"_ when he asks, " _how do I look today?"_ when he murmurs, " _I'm so in love with you,"_ Renly never laughs. When Loras feels the most like he is being foolish and immature and petulant and fearful, Renly doesn't even smile; sometimes he cries at Loras's confessions, which makes Loras more confused and in love than he could ever articulate. Other times he'll just bring Loras closer, or murmur an answer in his ear.

 

" _I'm sure I need you around twice as much as that."_

  


" _You look wonderful today. As I'm sure you noticed when you looked at yourself this morning."_

  


_"I'm more in love with you than you'll ever know."_

 

It's the laughing, Loras thinks, that makes him positive that Renly's love is there. Or, rather, it's his lack of laughing; it's the time spent between the two of them that is serious and real and sometimes painful; it's the honesty that hurts outweighed by the honesty that is so startlingly comforting Loras is paralyzed by bliss.

 

When Loras is most unsure of himself, Renly is there. And he is sure enough for the both of them.


End file.
